Relationships According to Facebook

Well with the progression of social networking technology, the classic easy-way-out breakup letter, or any written letter seems useless. With practically everyone on Facebook or Twitter, face-to-face communication is no longer necessary. We can brag about our successes, wallow in self-pity, or begin and end relationships with the simple click of a mouse.

Back in the "olden days," heartbreakers resorted to the Dear John letter to end a relationship without having to face the sorrow and anger face-to-face. The heartbreaker would gather a stack of paper on a desk, grab a pen, and write pages and pages by candlelight. The Dear John author would reflect on a relationship, pour out all his/her feelings, express all the bitterness, sadness, and anger, explain that the relationship has no future, all while naively hoping for an enriching friendship in the future.

Ok, so maybe maybe my break-up ideas are a bit romantic and out of touch with reality. Maybe people wouldn't exactly have to write pages an pages about a relationship, but before social networking sites, there would have to be some sort of justification for ending a relationship. Now there is no need for any explanations, nothing is clearer than a Facebook relationship status.

A Facebook page offers three relationship statuses. You can either be listed as "single," letting the Facebook community know you are on the market and would most likely be free on a Saturday night. You can also be listed as "in a relationship," telling everyone to back off because you're taken. Facebook also offers the "it's complicated" relationship status, letting everyone know you are either a commitment-phobe, don't want to be limited by the single or in a relationship status, or like leaving people curious.

People no longer need to ask about one's love life, it's already on display. Questions don't even need to be asked about a friend's significant other, just check out his/her profile; all questions will be answered.

More telling than a relationship status on its own, is a change in relationship status. All it takes is a simple click of the mouse, to break-up with someone. Actual verbal communication is no longer required. While it would be nice to assume that a couple can end a relationship privately and with respect, some people find out they were dumped by a simple change in relationship status. So much for technology bringing people together.

Of course relying on the internet to end a relationship can create an entire new set of conflicts. Yes clicking away a relationship may be easy, but it can also appear distant, cold, and calculated.

The Facebook relationship status is just one of several examples of how with the progression of technology, people are avoiding human interaction for more "efficient" methods of communication.